1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor light emitting component, and more particularly to a light emitting diode (LED) array and a method for manufacturing the LED array.
2. Description of Related Art
FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic view of a conventional horizontal light emitting diode. Referring to FIG. 1, horizontal light emitting diode 100 includes epitaxial substrate 102. Epitaxial structure 104 is grown from the epitaxial substrate by an epitaxial growth process. Electrode unit 106 is formed on the epitaxial structure for providing electrical energy. Epitaxial substrate 102 is made of a material such as sapphire or SiC so that epitaxial growth of group-III nitride (e.g., gallium-nitride-based (GaN-based) or indium-gallium-nitride-based (InGaN-based) semiconductor material) can be achieved on epitaxial substrate 102.
Epitaxial structure 104 is usually made of GaN-based semiconductor material or InGaN-based semiconductor material. During the epitaxy growth process, GaN-based semiconductor material or InGaN-based semiconductor material epitaxially grows up from epitaxial substrate 102 to form n-type doped layer 108 and p-type doped layer 110. When the electrical energy is applied to epitaxial structure 104, light emitting portion 112 at junction of n-type doped layer 108 and p-type doped layer 110 generates an electron-hole capture phenomenon. As a result, the electrons of light emitting portion 112 will fall to a lower energy level and release energy with a photon mode. For example, light emitting portion 112 is a multiple quantum well (MQW) structure capable of restricting a spatial movement of the electrons and the holes. Thus, a collision probability of the electrons and the holes is increased so that the electron-hole capture phenomenon occurs easily, thereby enhancing light emitting efficiency.
Electrode unit 106 includes first electrode 114 and second electrode 116. First electrode 114 and second electrode 116 are in ohmic contact with n-type doped layer 108 and p-type doped layer 110, respectively. The electrodes are configured to provide electrical energy to epitaxial structure 104. When a voltage is applied between first electrode 114 and second electrode 116, an electric current flows from the second electrode to the first electrode through epitaxial structure 104 and is horizontally distributed in epitaxial structure 104. Thus, a number of photons are generated by a photoelectric effect in epitaxial structure 104. Horizontal light emitting diode 100 emits light from epitaxial structure 104 due to the horizontally distributed electric current.
A manufacturing process of horizontal light emitting diode 100 is simple. However, horizontal light emitting diodes can cause several problems such as, but not limited to, current crowding problems, non-uniformity light emitting problems, and thermal accumulation problems. These problems may decrease the light emitting efficiency of the horizontal light emitting diode and/or damage the horizontal light emitting diode.
To overcome some of the above mentioned problems, vertical light emitting diodes have been developed. FIG. 2 depicts a schematic view of a conventional vertical light emitting diode. Vertical light emitting diode 200 includes epitaxial structure 204 and electrode unit 206 disposed on the epitaxial structure for providing electrical energy. Similar to horizontal light emitting diode 100 shown in FIG. 1, epitaxial structure 204 can be made of GaN-based semiconductor material or InGaN-based semiconductor material by an epitaxial growth process. During the epitaxial growth process, the GaN-based semiconductor material and the InGaN-based semiconductor material epitaxially grows up from an epitaxial substrate (not shown) to form n-type doped layer 208, light emitting structure 212, and p-type doped layer 210. Then, electrode unit 206 is bonded to epitaxial structure 204 after stripping the epitaxial substrate. Electrode unit 206 includes first electrode 214 and second electrode 216. First electrode 214 and second electrode 216 are in ohmic contact with n-type doped layer 208 and p-type doped layer 210, respectively. In addition, second electrode 216 can adhere to heat dissipating substrate 202 so as to increase the heat dissipation efficiency. When a voltage is applied between first electrode 214 and second electrode 216, an electric current vertically flows. Thus, conventional vertical light emitting diode 200 can effectively improve the current crowding problem, the non-uniformity light emitting problem and the thermal accumulation problem of horizontal light emitting diode 100. However, a shading effect of the electrodes is a problem in the conventional vertical light emitting diode depicted in FIG. 2. In addition, the manufacturing process for forming vertical light emitting diode 200 may be complicated. For example, epitaxial structure 204 may be damaged by high heat when adhering second electrode 216 to heat dissipating substrate 202.
In recent years, wide-bandgap nitride-based LEDs with wavelength range from the ultraviolet to the shorter wavelength parts of the visible spectra have been developed. LED devices can be applied to new display technologies such as traffic signals, liquid crystal display TVs, and backlights of cell phones. Due to the lack of native substrates, GaN films and related nitride compounds are commonly grown on sapphire wafers. Conventional LEDs (such as those described above) are inefficient because the photons are emitted in all directions. A large fraction of light emitted is limited in the sapphire substrate and cannot contribute to usable light output. Moreover, the poor thermal conductivity of the sapphire substrate is also a problem associated with conventional nitride LEDs. Therefore, freestanding GaN optoelectronics without the use of sapphire is a desirable technology that solves this problem. The epilayer transferring technique is a well-known innovation in achieving ultrabright LEDs. Thin-film p-side-up GaN LEDs with highly reflective reflector on silicon substrate made by a laser lift-off (LLO) technique, combined with n-GaN surface roughening, have been established as an effective tool for nitride-based heteroepitaxial structures to eliminate the sapphire constraint. The structure is regarded as a good candidate for enhancing the light extraction efficiency of GaN-based LEDs. However, this technique is also subject to the electrode-shading problem. The emitted light is covered and absorbed by the electrodes, which results in reduced light efficiency.
Thin-film n-side-up devices GaN LEDs with interdigitated imbedded electrodes may improve light emission by reducing some of the electrode-shading problem. While thin-film n-side-up devices GaN LEDs provide enhanced properties compared to thin-film p-side-up devices GaN LEDs, there is still a need for improved structures and processes for making both p-side-up and n-side-up devices.
Furthermore, horizontal light emitting diode 100 and vertical light emitting diode 200 typically are packaged in single-die manners, which does not facilitate manufacturing a large area light source. In view of the problems discussed above with reference to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, there is a need for a light emitting diode and a manufacturing method that overcomes the above disadvantages of the horizontal light emitting diodes and the vertical light emitting diodes and facilitates manufacturing a large area light source.